FEATURED: Our most visited post of 2016 – In this episode of Naturally Speaking Shorts Laurie Baker speaks to R-guru Hadley Wickham, Chief Scientist at RStudio, about his work to make programming and data analysis in the statistical programme R less painful.

Episode 61: Linked Migrations “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but nature has the magical ability to charm everyone. Scientists want to know more about its secrets through research, while artists study every minute detail to portray it on canvas. Naturally Speaking brings you some insights into the work and experiences of Derek Robertson, a Scottish landscape and […]

Every year on the 12th of February, Charles Darwin’s birthday, the scientific community recognises Darwin Day. This is a celebration of evolutionary biology and all that we have learnt since Darwin introduced us to the concept of natural selection. To mark the event, the Institute holds an annual Darwin Lecture. This is a highly prestigious evening in the IBAHCM’s calendar, […]

Episode 59: Resilience in Academia It’s unlikely that anyone has ever said that a career in academic research is easy. It is highly competitive, requires an incredibly large skill set, and “rejection” is essentially part of the job description. However, despite all these challenges, most of us couldn’t imagine doing anything else! In this episode, Naturally Speaking editors Taya Forde […]

Crossbody Velvet COSMOPARIS Marine COSMOPARIS Omia Omia Crossbody Episode 58: Lumped together – explaining species co-existence The competitive exclusion principle states that in the long term, the number of species should never exceed the number of available resources. Phytoplankton species paradoxically violate this rule. Instead, species with similar traits co-exist in “clumps” in which there is redundancy among species occupying the same niche, helping ensure the delivery of […]

Episode 57: Of Mice and microbes Are parasites always harmful? How diverse are the microbial communities living within individual hosts? These are questions that Dr Sarah Knowles – a researcher at the Royal Veterinary College in London – has set out to address. She visited IBAHCM in January as a guest lecturer in the Institute’s weekly seminar series. In this […]

Omia Velvet Crossbody COSMOPARIS COSMOPARIS Crossbody Omia Marine Episode 56: Seasonal Cheer at IBAHCM Every year in December, the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine takes a look back on the year and celebrates its successes in the form of a potluck and Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance). This year, Naturally Speaking editors Jacqueline Jacot and Laurie Baker interviewed Institute members at this festive event to reflect […]

Episode 55: “Recent” IBAHCM Highlights Autumn seems to have run away with us… just too many exciting things happening! In this episode, the Naturally Speaking team reflect on some of the Institute’s many achievements of the last few months (July – October, 2017). Steve Larcombe, James Burgon and Taya Forde discuss some of their favourite publications, highlight funding and PhD […]